In 2005, the Ministry of Education (MOE) put forward its “NT$50 billion in five years” plan to provide NT$10 billion (US$311.1 million) in government funding each year for higher education. Of this, a fixed sum of NT$3 billion per year was allocated to National Taiwan University (NTU), with the rest being shared by 10 other private and state-run universities.
The aim of the plan was to improve the quality of universities, their teachers and students by increasing the number of theses published and cited, making the universities more international and so on. It was hoped that at least one Taiwanese university could be listed among the world’s top universities.
People called the plan a “super pep pill” for higher education, and it has been quite effective as these universities, long thirsty for funding, strive to attain the plan’s targets. NTU, which gets 10 times as much funding as any other university on the list, has taken just a few years to achieve the hoped-for result, appearing this year for the first time among the top 100 universities in the annual World University Rankings compiled by Britain’s Times Higher Educational Supplement (TES), in which it ranked 95th, equal with the University of Southampton.
The news was greeted with joy on the NTU campus, and the ministry was equally pleased, boasting that the “NT$50 billion in five years” plan has shown concrete results. The NTU Students’ Union, however, reacted differently, holding a protest at the campus gates to express the students’ view that the university has been losing its soul in recent years. The student protesters claim that since receiving the funding, NTU has shifted its entire educational focus and put excessive emphasis on rankings with the goal of getting into the top 100.
After the government devoted such massive funding to the plan, NTU seems to have taken on a role akin to that of a labor-intensive subcontracting factory in a developing country, trying to get into the top 100 by taking on all kinds of outsourced academic work. In so doing, the protesters claim, it has overlooked the rights and welfare of students and drifted further away from the core values expressed in its motto: “Cultivate virtue, advance intellect, love one’s country, love one’s people.”
The TES World University Rankings are based on scores for peer review, employer review, number of international staff and students, staff-to-student ratio and the average number of citations for theses written by each member of the teaching staff. Of these, only the last two measure the quality of teaching and research. There are no scores for graduate satisfaction, employability or starting salary, or for influence on modern society. So what significance does NTU’s appearance among the top 100 universities really have?
From the point of view of the public budget, the unit cost for each NTU student is more than NT$300,000 — twice as much as for National Chengchi University and three or four times as much as for many privately run universities. Are NTU graduates’ achievements and contributions to society really that many times greater than those of graduates from other colleges? What is the significance of NTU’s entry into the top 100 universities for academia and for the taxpayer? While they enjoy an enviable subsidy, can NTU professors match it through their contributions as public intellectuals?
Charles Kao (高錕), a member of Academia Sinica and known as the “father of fiber-optic communications,” has just been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. More than a decade ago, Kao, as vice chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, took that institution into the ranks of the world’s top 100 universities. However, he did not seek only to promote individual research by professors and citations of their theses. He did not forget society’s expectations of publicly funded universities, especially taxpayers’ expectations that a top university will turn out top-quality graduates. During his 10 years of leadership at the university, Kao laid great importance on the university’s core values. Besides research, he did not forget the importance of teaching and fostering quality in the next generation. He did not forget that a university is duty-bound to care about and serve society. Being listed as one of the world’s top 100 universities is no more than a means to the ends of fostering more talented people and upholding social justice. Surely the purpose is not just to bring fame and wealth to the university itself.
What influence will NTU’s entry into the world’s top 100 have for higher education in Taiwan and for society as a whole? The objective was not just for NTU’s benefit. More important is fostering each university’s soul and special characteristics. Research in the arts and social sciences should not be divorced from Taiwan’s social environment.
It is not enough for the government to invest a lot of money. They should formulate policies on the direction of Taiwan’s higher education.
As to our colleagues at NTU, in the midst of their celebrations they should not forget that their funding comes from the taxpayer’s blood and sweat. What taxpayers want in return is top-quality, talented people ready to serve the country.
Prudence Chou is a professor in the Department of Education at National Chengchi University and a convener of a series of forums on education reform.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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